Lets talk about weetbix.

[Junglemum]

So i often see references to not giving weetbix to babies under 12 months. Sometimes it is claims about the salt content, other times it is about fiber and sometimes allergy concerns.

So i did a little research this morning and this is what i found.

First i looked at the salt.
The recommended dietary intake of sodium is as follows;

0-6 months 120mg/day (estimated amount an exclusively BF baby gets)
7-12 months 170mg/day
1-3 years 200-400mg/day *

*from nrv.gov.au

Weetbix contain the following amounts of sodium per serve, which is 30g or 2 biscuits;

Original 96mg
Organic 87mg
Multigrain 157mg
Kids 33mg

Compared to
Oats 5mg / 30 g serve

So oats are the clear winner in terms of Salt, but given that my kids have home cooked fruit and vegies which have minimal amounts of sodium (for example 1/2 an avocado has 2mg of sodium, an apple has about 1mg) At the introduction of solids the RDI goes up by 50mg, i pressume that a baby will still get the 120mg/day from breastmilk and can have up to 50mg more sodium from solids per day. Although one kids weetbix, at 16.5mg a day is a large percentage of this (33%) in terms of salt content, my daughter would still be well under 170mg a day with her diet of mainly fruit and veg.
I guess if my kids were having other foods high in sodium i might see it differently.


I then went on to look at fiber.

Weetbix all contain 3.3g of fiber, except multigrain which contains 4.6g.

Oats are often suggested as an alternative, but the fiber in oats is 3.0g/serve of 30g, so not that different really. BM contains no fibre so i guess it would be a big change for their digestive system. Although the amount of fibre is not huge compared to fruit and veggies. 1 apple has about 2.3g of fibre, a pear has 2.1g, 1/2 Cup carrot has 1.7g.

So again the fiber content is a little higher in weekbix than oats but not significantly.

I have heard a few times that weetbix packets suggest not giving weetbix until 12 months. I looked but couldn?t see it on any box?s here. I did find on their Australian website that they don?t recommend introducing any wheat products until 7 months, but that was all I could find. If anyone has proof of this claim (ie, a box with it on) I?d be interested to hear. What it does say is ?2 Weet-Bix Kids with 1/2 cup of milk provides 1/3 of daily calcium & iron needs of children aged 1-7 years.? That is a far cry from "do not give to infants under 12 month" ( I email the company to ask them about this rumor, awaiting for a reply. )

Finally, the concern of allergy. Given that we have eczema in the family I am going to try and avoid high allergy foods related to eczema. But most things I read suggested that as long as there is no history of allergies it is fine to introduce wheat at around 7-8 months. Although many people say before this is fine, and others say wait until 12 months. There was a study done in Sweden that suggested introducing gluten while still breast feeding was important to reduce the likelihood of a child developing celiac disease.

I guess to the problem is that nutrition and disease is not an exact science. We?re still learning, hence the forever changing recommendations!

As far as weetbix are concerned from all I have seen they are fine as a part of a balanced diet for an infant, particularly if the rest of their diet is low in sodium. Oats are slightly better in terms of salt content and are a good alternative.

I would be very interested if anyone has further reading on introducing wheat...

[LimeSlice]

That is really interesting - thanks for posting that

I never knew it was suggested not to give them weetbix under 12 months. While Charlotte eats porridge most days, she does eat weetbix often and has done since 7 months old.
We have no food allergies int eh family though so it was never a concern from that aspect.

Isn't the wheat allergy thing why *they* recommend giving babies rice cereal as opposed to wheat based cereals as first foods?

[Junglemum]

Yeah Limey that is why rice cereal can be a great first food. Although i find that due to the iron fortification it causes more constipation problems than anything else, so we went straight to fruit and vegies. There are lots of recipes to make your own so i guess that's an option.

I am still a bit confused as to the optimal time to introduce wheat though. i guess while the experts are confused i have no chance. :

[Rouge]

Awesomely put. I think too if people knew the amount of sodium in regular foods, non processed wholefoods, they might be shocked. Like did you know celery contains the same amount as weet-bix in one stalk?

[maz]

Ah you clever chicky babe
Now you know what N looks like...he has no ezcemer, no allergies.....he's been eatting weetbix since he was 8 weeks old. My doctor told me to introduce him to solids at 6 weeks due to his reflux...he told me weetbix would help keep 'it down' and would be no different in salt content to other foods he would be eating.

It hasnt hurt my boy now has it

[*charmalea*]

rouge - so even though celery has the same amout as weetbix .... i would consider the celery to be a better option , as its whole and pure .. straight from the ground and not a box ... wdyt ??

we did BLS at around 8 mths wheat was introduced . i BF for 14.5 mths and my lil one is gluten intolerant , her dietician said , if your cealiac , your cealiac ...introducing wheat would make the symptoms appear eariler , you cant change it , BF helps alot only if the mother changes her diet ... but then the mum misses out on a huge load of fibre and other minerals .

i also think that weetbix are ok if thier diet is balanced . and they have been around for ever and ever and i bet they are a top seller .

thanks for posting though , there is not enough info about the food on the shelves at the supermarkets .

[Junglemum]

Like did you know celery contains the same amount as weet-bix in one stalk?

I had no idea!

[*EJ*]

Very interesting and WOW on all your research Falguni!!

DS1 has had wheatbix from an early age (not sure exactly when) started on rice cereal and then progressed to wheatbix once he was needing a little more at breakfast time.

I must say i have never looked into wheatbix so throughly but in my ignorance (maybe/maybe not) believed i was giving him a healthy nutritious breakfast compared to other choices i could have made. On top of the wheatbix he also has puffed rice, LSA mix & apple/pear puree that i make each week. Scarey thought but would this be considered a high salt content breakfast? Once again considereing it's fruit picked from a tree?

The mention of eczema is an interesting one, DS1 does have patches on his arms & legs of 'dry skin' that i apply a perscribed cream to. I use soap free products but these will still flare up now and again. I wonder if it has anything to do with wheat??

To this day he has wheatbix every morning and he loves it. I have breifly researched the contents in food we eat and i try really hard to make the right decisions. I'd definately be interested to hear what others think and have found out from research and expereince.

Great thread Falguni

[Indadhanu]

Thats a great post. I also tried to find the "not under 12 months" recommendation, on the box and on the website, but never did (I suspect its an urban legend, like the 'illegal to put poopy nappies in the bin' legend too ).

I never really understood the delaying wheat thing... actually, I still don't... since commercial teething rusks are made from wheat? And all recipes I found for home-made teething rusks were just breadsticks. Feeding a baby is so confusing...!

Also, did you know cornflakes is JAMPACKED full of sodium? Over 200mg in one 30g serve. Crazy!

[Roryrory]

Good work on the research!!

I researched introduction of wheat when Flynn was little and found a US study that showed the "late" introduction of wheat (ie: late was considered to be after 7 months!) was as much an indicator of developing coeliacs disease as "early" introduction (ie: before 5 months). But the sample was children who already had one other close family member (parent/sibling) with CD, so how this applicable this is to other kids I don't know. But in light of that study I introduced Flynn to solids at 5 months with a view to introducing wheat at spot on six months (not that I had CD, I just have a sensitivity as does DH).

So it is a hard thing to work out!!!

[Rouge]

Unfortunately Sodium is sodium, any doctor will tell you if you are required to have less than 1000mg (or whatever the measurement is) of sodium a day celery is definitely out. So whilst it might be fiberous and what not the sodium content would be just as much an issue (if that concerned you) as weet-bix. Another interesting fact about sodium is that in salt its only 40% sodium and 60% chloride and as humans we do need a certain percentage of sodium in our diet. Sodium deficiency can be just as bad for us as too much. So its important to note that moderation is the key with any foods. Just as overeating some of the healthiest foods for us can make us sick so can having too little of things like fat, sugar and salt. They all have their place. Obviously processed foods are not a necessity but even things like the raw diet and wholefood diet can make people sick too. This happened to my SIL who ended up with no periods and malnutrition from being on a raw food diet. Which is quite interesting. She still eats quite healthily but she is no way near as hard on herself, and now her body has returned to normal.

[Phteven]

Just on the topic of celery, it's pretty much an empty food since it uses more calories to chew and digest it than it contains. That's great if you're a dieting adult but not so great for a growing child. I love celery but we seldom eat it here.

[Janie]

Love your work hun!

I have been meaning to look into the whole weetbix thing for ages . You've prompted me to go and check what I wanted to, and I am feeling thoroughly ashamed of myself. DS mostly has porridge, but sometimes has vita brits. I have always had vita brits, never once bought weetbix! After comparing the two, we will definitely be changing to weetbix. And I can't believe that after trying to eliminate Nestle from our shopping, I never even thought about the fact that vita brits are made by Uncle Toby's (therefore Nestle)!!!!

So thanks for getting me off my butt, to check this out. And I loved reading your info about the allergy aspect of introducing wheat - I too have always felt confused by the info out there.

ETA Okay, loving all this info about celery......can't believe I never knew this stuff!

[maz]

Obviously processed foods are not a necessity but even things like the raw diet and wholefood diet can make people sick too. This happened to my SIL who ended up with no periods and malnutrition from being on a raw food diet. Which is quite interesting. She still eats quite healthily but she is no way near as hard on herself, and now her body has returned to normal.

OMG....that has just blown me away big time!!!!

[AnyDream]

A bit OT but...I'm gonna pipe up and say I *love* Weetbix. Main reason, DD1 (never a big eater) skated along near anemia for a while (between the ages of 4 - 8 & flat-out refused to swallow supplements), and Weetbix has the added iron in it. None of the other brands (based on hasty supermarket packet reading) have the iron. Basically I could feed DD a breakfast of Weetbix and a glass of iron-fortified juice and over several weeks her appetite, energy etc would return to normal.

[~clover~]

Mine all ate weet bix from 6 months. DD2 especially. Still loves it. I actually never heard the over 12 months til I mentioned it in here. By then 2 kids were past that stage & DS was in the middle of it. Weet bix & avocado sandwiches were his main foods when we started solids.

DH was started on weet bix at a very young age too. Didn't hurt him

[~Raven~]

Thats a great post. I also tried to find the "not under 12 months" recommendation, on the box and on the website, but never did
!

But it does say clearly on the box and on the website that it is for kids ages 1 - 7 years. Can that be interpreted as not being suitable for under 12 months? Does it really have to say in big bold letter that it isn't suitable I read it and think well my child isn't 1 yet so I'm not going to feed it the him/her just yet, or is that just me.


I swear I have found it on the sanitarium site that it's not recommended to give wheat to babies under 6 months. Weet-bix is made from wheat, therefore it must be unsuitable...again is that just my interpretation? They don't say it in so many words but in a round about way.

Didn't bookmark it and I really can't be bothered trawling through all the pages on there to find it now lol.

Anyhoo that's a great read Falgs, thanks for sharing!

[Junglemum]

The quote on the box is ;

"Weet-Bix Kids with 1/2 cup of milk provides 1/3 of daily calcium & iron needs of children aged 1-7 years."

I don't interpret that to mean not for kids under 12 months at all. Kids under 12 months have a different calcium and iron need to those over 12 months. So the statement would not be true if it said from 6 months. I don't think it was intended to mean only children between 1 and 7 should have them.

You are right, the website does say that cereal and grains shouldn't be introduced until 7 months. It's on the sanitarium site under nutrition, the article is "Healthy foods, healthy babies...a guide to introducing solids to babies." But there is nothing to say that you should hold off until 12 months.

Roryrory- i think it was a swedish study, the main point i took from the study was the importance of BF'ing when introducing wheat. Apparently that was what helped lower the incidence of coeliac disease.